Talk:Chavurah

Mentioning others
Perhaps this article should mention the role of the Reconstructionist_Judaism in popularizing the chavurah? (Oddly enough, that article hardly mentions them.)

However, the website of the movement lists both Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot on the same page, suggesting they give both equal importance. (Perhaps as chavurot often evolve into sunagugyes; this phenomenon is hardly limited to reconstructionism.)

Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot: http://www2.jrf.org/cong/directory-all.php

Neil Fein 23:40, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Regional Retreats
I think it would be great if the regional retreats were added to this page (but can't add them because I am a publicity manager for one such retreat).

--AnnaLilliman 17:40, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

In at least the synagogues with which I am familiar, the havurot are groups that meet together, sub-sets of the congregaation, as it were. Some are mostly social some religous, and some intellectual. They vary greatly in the kinds of programs they engage in. The group supports one another in times of trouble; many refer to members of the chavurah as a kind of family.

Peter Gingiss (Pgingiss) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pgingiss (talk • contribs) 04:07, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Bet Madrash
This article says that the purpose of a havurah inculdes Jewish learning. Does this mean that a havurah could maintain a bet midrash? Prsaucer1958 (talk) 00:52, 22 February 2012 (UTC)

Prayer and Community: The Havurah in American Judaism (1989)
Riv-Ellen Prell. Prayer and Community: The Havurah in American Judaism. Detroit : Wayne State University Press, 1989.

This book may be helpful if anyone wishes to expand this entry?

131.111.184.102 (talk) 13:46, 23 August 2018 (UTC)

Proposed deletion
As a native speaker of Hebrew, I feel that this is more suitable for a wiktionary article, not a Wikipedia one. Chavurot are just like groups of friends. It's like if someone wrote an article about a special type of community organisations in English speaking countries called "bros" Mèþru (talk) 02:24, 5 October 2020 (UTC)
 * If you read through this article you will clearly see that the notion of a Chavurah is NOT just a word for "bros" because it refers to various forms of associations in various streams of Judaism in North America which you seem to be unfamiliar with. Kindly withdraw your nomination to allow for greater discussion. Thank you, IZAK (talk) 02:11, 6 October 2020 (UTC)


 * OPPOSE the deletion of this article, it describes a phenomenon of organizations and it is NOT "just a Hebrew word" IZAK (talk) 02:11, 6 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Judaism-related deletion discussions. 02:27, 6 October 2020 (UTC)  IZAK (talk) 02:27, 6 October 2020 (UTC)


 * Oppose I have not read the entire article carefully yet. However, as a former member of a former religious Reconstructionist chavurah, now turned into a full "congregation," I can attest to the fact that the concept is indeed more than just the application of a Hebrew word. In fact, the phenomenon of the smaller religious congregations, or chavurot, within the Conservative and Reconstructionist streams of modern Judaism was started/inspired by the ex-Lubavitcher turned "renewal" Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. For example, the page on the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he had some influence, points to this page also. The growing orthodox and renewal influences on the Recon Chavurah I once belonged to were one of the reasons for the discontinuing of my participation. warshy (¥¥) 16:56, 6 October 2020 (UTC)

Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message. warshy (¥¥) 17:07, 6 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I guess my Israeli is showing. Did not know North American Jews have a narrow meaning Mèþru (talk) 17:01, 6 October 2020 (UTC)
 * תודה! Face-smile.svg Hello Chavurah, Warshy has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Go on, smile! Cheers, and happy editing!
 * Thank you for withdrawing the nomination to delete. IZAK (talk) 21:34, 6 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you for reverting the proposed suggestion to delete. IZAK (talk) 21:36, 6 October 2020 (UTC)

Chabureh matzes
When a group makes matzes together, those matzes are called "chabureh matzes", and the people are called a "chabureh". The same word as "chavurah", with informal pronunciation. Can be added to the article. Debresser (talk) 16:50, 5 October 2020 (UTC)

Page title
Hi there, is there a reason the page is titled Chavura instead of Chabura? My understanding of Hebrew phonology is that the ב is the start of the second syllable of the word, and so would be voiced with a "b" sound, as it is in common speech as far as I am aware. Also, if this is not a reference to a the word but to a specific American practice, maybe the page can be retitled "Chavura (Religious organization)" or something of that nature? Ak0015 (talk) 14:11, 17 September 2021 (UTC)
 * As for your "Hebrew phonology" question, you are mistaken, the Hebrew pronunciation of the word is chavurah, with a v sound, since the letter ב does not have a dagesh in modern spoken Hebrew. The title is fine with me as is. Thank you, warshy (¥¥) 15:26, 17 September 2021 (UTC)
 * To clarify, the reason for this is that, while a bet which followed a patah ("a") would normally be geminated ("b"), in this case the patah is hataf, which works like a schwa and raphates to following bet into "v". The first letter is a heth, which as a gutteral cannot take a mobile schwa, but in form it's the same as gevurah (strength) or kevurah (grave) -- chavurah (group). Some users, mistaking the hataf patah, which is really a type of schwa, for a full patah, pronounce it chaburah. GordonGlottal (talk) 14:11, 30 November 2022 (UTC)